# On Microscopes



## opaltiger (Oct 21, 2010)

Suppose you're given one of these and a slide:







Would you know what to do with it? Without instructions?

Particularly interested in people who have taken biology classes, naturally.


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## Zeph (Oct 21, 2010)

I'd like to think so. We used them pretty much all throughout GCSE Biology, and although I didn't continue it to AS, I'm still pretty sure I'd be able to at least _use_ it.


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## Murkrow (Oct 21, 2010)

I would say yes but then last year in physics ALL I had to do was get the teacher ten unused slides.
...I wouldn't have posted this if it ended well.


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## Green (Oct 21, 2010)

I've always liked that stuff, and I had a microscope as a kid, so yeah.

Wee biology~


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## Music Dragon (Oct 21, 2010)

Yes.

... Well, even if you've never used one before, they're not *that* hard to figure out, are they? The worst thing that could happen is that you might accidentally crush the slide or something.


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## opaltiger (Oct 21, 2010)

Right, do any of you know how to use them beyond "put slide under lens, look into microscope, turn knobs"?


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## Ruby (Oct 21, 2010)

The context for this thread, if anyone is wondering, is that opal turned up at university and somehow everyone already knew how to use the microscopes except him.


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## Music Dragon (Oct 21, 2010)

I've sadly never had a microscope capable of being used in any other way.


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## opaltiger (Oct 21, 2010)

Music Dragon said:


> I've sadly never had a microscope capable of being used in any other way.


I suspect you simply did not know it could be used another way. (okay, yes, most of the controls are knobs of some kind. My point is there is stuff beyond "look into eyepiece, focus").


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## Tailsy (Oct 21, 2010)

Beat whoever gave me it to death because I dropped all sciences after Standard Grade?


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## Music Dragon (Oct 21, 2010)

opaltiger said:


> I suspect you simply did not know it could be used another way. (okay, yes, most of the controls are knobs of some kind. My point is there is stuff beyond "look into eyepiece, focus").


I've only ever used very cheap microscopes. They were simple enough. Apart from the Focus Knobs™ there's that one knob that allows you to temporarily blind yourself with a flash of white light, and you can twist the little... _thing_ to activate different zoompowers.

All the other knobs seemed to do pretty much nothing but move various parts up and down or back and forth, so I figure they really amount to nothing but situational Focus Knobs™.


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## Minish (Oct 21, 2010)

Jessie said:


> Beat whoever gave me it to death because I dropped all sciences after Standard Grade?


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## spaekle (Oct 21, 2010)

lmao, I could never get my microscope to focus properly. That or I'd see stuff, but it was apparently not what I was supposed to be seeing at all and what I was actually supposed to be seeing was on some other focus setting that I never ever found after an entire year of turning all the knobs. I hated that thing so much.


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## nastypass (Oct 21, 2010)

I know the basic "look into lens, adjust zoom and focus" and could probably figure out the rest without breaking it within... a week or two?  Maybe more, I don't find microbes and such particularly interesting.


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## Zuu (Oct 21, 2010)

I was given the chance to use a pretty good microscope at the local university here and it wasn't particularly complicated. I can use a microscope, I'm just not an expert. we never did labs in high school and the microscopes they have at the high school are shit.


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## opaltiger (Oct 21, 2010)

New question! How many of you have heard the term 'field-iris' before?


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## Zuu (Oct 21, 2010)

no.


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## Music Dragon (Oct 21, 2010)

Rings no bells.


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## Blastoise Fortooate (Oct 21, 2010)

Nope.


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## Green (Oct 21, 2010)

No.


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## opaltiger (Oct 21, 2010)

Okay! That makes more sense, thanks.


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## ultraviolet (Oct 21, 2010)

and thus concludes a general representation of every science class I've ever had


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## Dannichu (Oct 21, 2010)

I would spin the three lenses around so the least-zoomy lens was looking at the slide, and then twiddle the twiddly thingies till it was in focus. Then I'd move to the next-most-powerful zoomy-thing and do the same, and then the most powerful one after that, focusing using the twiddly-bits each time.

The iris thingy keeps out light or something, doesn't it? We had (relatively) cheap microscopes that had the discs-with-holes-thingies instead, but we didn't do much other than look at... blood cells? Cell membranes? Christ, I can't even remember.

And that, ladies and gents, is how I got a C in biology A-level. My teacher threw something at my head every time I said the word 'thingy'. I'm amazed I was never taken to A&E with brain damage.


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## Green (Oct 21, 2010)

Our gifted teacher made us say thingy instead of thing. 'ARC language,' she called it.


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## Dannichu (Oct 21, 2010)

Here we go! 







Sorted.


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## opaltiger (Oct 21, 2010)

The ??? is the light intensity knob. :P Otherwise you're mostly right (except those move the slide horizontally; the vertical movement is from the coarse adjustment).

Actually that photo is pretty bad, you can't see the condenser very well. And yeah, the iris blocks light so only your sample is illuminated.


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## Not Meowth (Oct 22, 2010)

Someone in my GCSE Biology class referred to the twiddly thingy as the "turny up-and-down thing".
Other than that I approve of Danni's terminology.


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## Negrek (Oct 22, 2010)

I knew all that stuff already, yeah, and I would guess I knew it when I entered college, too. FWIW, though, I still suck at focusing microscopes (takes me ages...) and I've never actually found anything beyond the basic "put a slide on there and focus" useful. There was the occasional instance of somebody turning the lamp way down so I wouldn't be able to see anything until I cranked it, but all fiddling with the condenser seemed to do was make things harder to see than leaving it at the usual settings, for example.


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## Skylark (Oct 22, 2010)

Most of the microscopes at my school are the non-electric ones and have mirrors to look for light. Yeah, my school is so behind >.>


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## goldenquagsire (Oct 22, 2010)

lol, silly science folks need toys to play with. us humanities types have to make do with cold hard books. :)


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## Rai-CH (Oct 22, 2010)

I've never used a microscope before (I don't think we have any at my school) but I do know that you look though the eyehole things and turn the knobs to adjust the focus or something. Isn't that all that's to it, or am I missing out on something? 

Though they do look quite simple to use, so I guess it wouldn't be too hard to figure everything out and catch up with your classmates who know what they're doing.


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## Murkrow (Oct 22, 2010)

Skylark said:


> Most of the microscopes at my school are the non-electric ones and have mirrors to look for light. Yeah, my school is so behind >.>


We had to use bendy lamps to shine on the mirrors. The school just saves money by not buying new things unless the current one is broken.



goldenquagsire said:


> lol, silly science folks need toys to play with. us humanities types have to make do with cold hard books. :)


What about maths 8)


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## goldenquagsire (Oct 22, 2010)

Rasrap Smurf said:


> What about maths 8)


calculators
rulers
compasses
computer models

sorry bro, you're just as bad as the science kids. :D


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## 1. Luftballon (Oct 22, 2010)

pfft, you humanities types need books? math can all be done inside your head! we just don't feel like it most of the time.


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## Tailsy (Oct 22, 2010)

I can write essays in my head! They're just not much fucking use in there, are they? :P


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## Phantom (Oct 22, 2010)

We had to learn to use them for honors bio. We like had a little test... er thingy, on how to use them at the beginning of the year. Can't remember a thing though, that was three years ago...


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## Zhorken (Oct 23, 2010)

opaltiger said:


> Right, do any of you know how to use them beyond "put slide under lens, look into microscope, turn knobs"?


I know this much, but nothing more.


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## Harlequin (Oct 30, 2010)

Jessie said:


> I can write essays in my head! They're just not much fucking use in there, are they? :P


They're not usually much use _outside_ your head, though, are they?

I CAN USE A MICROSCOPE

it's actually bollocks right we had a whole fucking seminar on microscopy and the history of microscopes and the future of microscopes and I just wanted to cut a bitch because I was hungry and still drink from the night before. NOT GOOD TIMES.


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